Last year I used a lesson planner called "The Well-Planned Day". It was designed specifically for homeschoolers. It had a calendar at the beginning of each month, subject squares to write in, extra boxes on the side to record extra-curricular activities, and even space in the back for recording grades. It also had Bible verses and "insights" strewn throughout the pages. It cost me $25 and for that amount of money I was sure it was going to improve my homeschooling- no- my LIFE.
It wasn't a bad idea, but it just got so...boring. Writing everything down every week, when I pretty much knew in my head what we were doing. Writing down the pages, then getting them out, every single day, and tearing out the pages for that day. I know that sounds like something really small to complain about, but it got to be one of those monotonous things that I just got tired of doing. The planner was fine, but it was just more than I needed. All I really needed to do was keep track of which workbook pages we were on.
I shopped around for a different planner this year, but I couldn't find any I liked. Then I came up with the folder system. I bought four folders and labeled them for every school day (Thursdays we go to co-op).
Every weekend, I get out the books for next week. I tear out all the worksheets and coloring pages, and put them into the correct folder.
Then I'm done! Everything is ready to go for the week ahead. We just get up, get out the folder and the books we'll read (our curriculum provides our reading schedule) and everything's set. I don't need to look at the workbooks again until the next weekend. It helps me to get it all done at once, and it helps Gracie stay motivated because she can see exactly what's expected of her every day.
It also helps when I need to take care of the boys. I can tell Gracie,"finish the Language pages in your folder while I change Luke", and she can stay on track. A couple of forty-cent folders save us time, and the money I would have spent on a day planner.
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